Key question: effective?
Population group: All groups
These examples relate to Key Line of Enquiry E1: Are people’s needs assessed and care and treatment delivered, in line with current legislation, standards and evidence-based guidance?
When we inspected
Practice 1
The GPs told us they occasionally used National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines for diagnosis and treatment options. They were, however, unable to give us any examples of when they had recently used them.
Practice 2
Data showed that care and treatment was not always delivered in line with recognised professional standards and guidelines. We discussed with the GPs and nurse how NICE guidance was received and shared in the practice. They told us that they were informed of updates via email. However, there was no evidence to show new guidance was discussed amongst the clinicians as no clinical meetings were held. Staff were unable to provide examples of where clinical updates had been discussed and change implemented as a result.
Why this is inadequate?
This demonstrates that patients are experiencing care which does not reflect current evidence based guidance, standards and practice. This is likely to lead to significant variability in standards of care.